Elsa MORICHAU BEAUCHANT

Elsa Morichau-Beauchant: an expert in literature and Vatel alumnus, who was quickly promoted as the General Manager of a Parisian hotel, thanks to her sense of innovation in marketing.

An address that’s quite rare in Saint-Germain- des-Pres. Contemporary design and luxury, without ostentation. This is how people see La Villa Madame, a little jewel of a hotel right in the heart of Paris’ Left Bank neighborhood. This Villa is managed by a young director, Elsa Morichau-Beauchant, a Vatel Paris 2011 alumnus. Yes, you heard it right: 2011! A rapid success, but one that’s completely logical. Barely the time to snap your fingers: as an intern, she created the Marketing and Web-marketing function; she was hired upon graduation as the Sales and Marketing-Communications Manager, and in August, 2014, went up the last step when she became the hotel’s General Manager.

This graduate, who decided to attend Vatel after doing prep school in philosophy and literature, dreamed of “tackling the problems in running a hotel.” And here she is! Now she’s in charge of operational management, team management, recruitment and training, procurement as well as heading the marketing and communication department, where she has a provable track record.

“The hotel was a recent one that lacked visibility for its client base. My internship allowed me to outline the Marketing Manager function that I was hired for when I finished school,” she explained.

Here, marketing has highly strategic stakes: “For a 28 room hotel like La Villa Madame, what’s really important for us is not to be devoured by distribution that take a 12 to 25% commission. So your strategy has to target this point, being based on customer loyalty. There are lots of supports and digital strategies and your e reputation are part of them.

So that’s why I really worked on raising our on-line presence.” She also put in place a room price strategy, assisted by a specialist in yield management. She also excels in her communication policy, with, amongst others, the creation of Secrets de Madame, a monthly event featuring artists who open Villa Madame’s doors to Parisians, as well as a blog that spreads the name of this gem of a hotel on Internet. “I feel like I’m the spokesperson for independently owned hotels, and each and every day I learn more about them,” added Elsa.

The hospitality industry will continue to thrive in the future with new and exciting challenges: the war between distributors, the craziness of social networking, multi-concept hotels, etc. Independently owned hotels and restaurants and chain hotels or large palaces are completely different.” In any case, her story is a testimonial to the fact that Parisian independently owned hotels keep getting better.